Rianne Sammy-Sacquitne master's thesis in Policy Studies at the University of Washington (about wine subsidies) -- S/He declares the value of a bottle of premium wine to be $6. Page 72.
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Interesting question. Didn't realize there was a formal definition of premium. I casually use the term all the time to distinguish serious producers from the Gallos and Kendall Jacksons of this world, but I guess I've been wrong in that.

Last edited by Jenise on Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Jenise wrote:I casually use the phrase all the time to distinguish serious producers from the Gallos and Kendall Jacksons of this world, but I guess I've been wrong in that.

It's even worse than you think! A lot of the industrial wines qualify as "super-premium" in the formal hierarchy of the trade.

I'm not sure if the levels have changed, but it used to be that "super-premium" was something like $9 and up (which easily incorporates K-J Chardonnay - isn't it up to $12 now?) while "premium" was reserved for Turning Leaf and other mass-made wines in cork-finished wine labels. The lower category (forget what its name is) was used for Carlo Rossi and the like.

Maybe Hoke or someone can fill us in about current definitions on all this. Or wait, let me try a more detailed Google ...

(I assume the last two overlapping categories depend on what kind of container the wine comes in - Carlo Rossi jug, Two Buck Chuck extreme.)

Anyway, bottom line, as a term of art in the wine business, "premium" doesn't mean what you or I think it does ... and this terminology appears to cut across all categories in wine and liquor - "premium" has a similar sense for Scotch, tequila or bourbon.

It's worth mentioning that the definition can vary depending on the market research experts cutting the data. Constellation published a study last year defining "Premium" as any wine over $5, and then segmented within that group.

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to step on your lines, Robin. Left my post up because of the Constellation report, where premium was defined as $5 or more.

"One out of four people who drink premium wines is overwhelmed," says Leslie Joseph, Constellation's vice president of consumer research and consumer affairs, one of the leaders of the study. In addition to the "Overwhelmed" category, Project Genome identified five primary subgroups: Enthusiasts, 12 percent; Image Seekers, 20 percent; Savvy Shoppers, 15 percent; Traditionalists, 16 percent; and Satisfied Sippers, 14 percent."

It's worth mentioning that the definition points are hard to change -- one of the key reasons for having them is to show growth, positive or negative, over time - and rejiggering the categories can be difficult or even impossible.

Incidentally, the time posted times are very odd. I'm sure your post wasn't there when I signed on, and I went to the wine institute within a couple of minutes, so must have posted within five or six minutes. There seems to be an hour difference between our posts according to the times on my browser.

Premium is a completely abused marketing term. In the past the word "premium" had high quality associations. However after being abused by marketing people over the years I now tend to view any product marked "premium" as overmarketed and of generally shoddy quality.
Watch out, as I'm sure the term "fine" (as in fine wine) is well on the way down the same track.

I recognise that the industry has now decided to adopt the scales of premium mentioned, but don't feel I have to buy into it. I'll buy the wine I want.

Ian Sutton wrote:Premium is a completely abused marketing term. In the past the word "premium" had high quality associations. However after being abused by marketing people over the years I now tend to view any product marked "premium" as overmarketed and of generally shoddy quality. Watch out, as I'm sure the term "fine" (as in fine wine) is well on the way down the same track.

I recognise that the industry has now decided to adopt the scales of premium mentioned, but don't feel I have to buy into it. I'll buy the wine I want.

Ian, while I don't disagree with you at all in principle, I would note that <i>in the narrow definitions under discussion</i>, those aren't really marketing terms so much as inside jargon in the drinks industry, used for sales statistics and comparison. The industry doesn't really use them, in this specific sense, for advertising or marketing to consumers.

Bob Ross wrote:It's worth mentioning that the definition can vary depending on the market research experts cutting the data. Constellation published a study last year defining "Premium" as any wine over $5, and then segmented within that group.

I'm not sure that's a strong exception, Bob. It makes sense for Constellation to use its own terminology internally, better to segment its low-end portfolio. But the standard terminology has been surprisingly enduring throughout the industry for a long time - since 1990 or before - and as you pointed out in another thread, it's difficult to change the price points even in the light of inflation because there's so much long-term data based on the standard definitions.

Again, as I pointed out to Ian, not much of this is relevant to consumers other than perhaps detail-curious wine geeks who enjoy seeing how the industry works.

Bob Ross wrote:Incidentally, the time posted times are very odd. I'm sure your post wasn't there when I signed on, and I went to the wine institute within a couple of minutes, so must have posted within five or six minutes. There seems to be an hour difference between our posts according to the times on my browser.

Does that depend on the time we set respectively for WLDG in Profile?

Bob, actually there was more like a 90-minute difference. The Profile setting will change the time-stamps that you see, depending on your location (we should be the same, though, because we're both in EDT).

The time stamp I see on my post shows 8:06 a.m., and that is correct. Beyond that affiant sayeth not.

A slightly belated follow-up, Alan ... I just ran across an idiosyncratic definition from the Country Vintner, a small importer based in Virginia. This is probably a better real-world hierarchy, but I assume they came up with the categories on their own. They don't match the industry standard.

<I>The wines offered by The Country Vintner fit into four price categories on the retail shelf: Premium ($5.00 to $10.00 per bottle); Super Premium ($10.00 to $20.00 per bottle); Ultra Premium ($20.00 to $50.00 per bottle); and Luxury ($50.00 and higher per bottle). These categories represent the fastest growing categories of the cases sold in the United States.</i>

I assume you've discerned at this point, by the way, that these categories aren't addressed by TTB because they have no legal significance.

A point that seems not to have been made (or else I missed it...) is that just like the word "Reserve" in the United States, "Premium" has no legal meaning. As Robin points out, it's a handy term for market segmentation by price. That's all.

Creightond: I'll buy a wine that says "Premium" on the label, as long as it comes with a free ballpoint pen.